Ford facelifts its Maverick pickup, adds all-wheel-drive hybrid option
- Thread starter JournalBot
- Start date
This looks amazing on paper. I’m not a truck guy by any means, but as a homeowner it would be nice for the occasional home improvement projects and stuff while still getting better MPG than my Forester if I had to commute in it.
Upvote
3
(3
/
0)
Until they come out with a normal size bed for the Maverick, I am going to keep my Ford Ranger going as long as I can.
Upvote
-11
(4
/
-15)
There's also a second reason. Most kei vehicles have to be at least 25 years old to be legal for import to the United States because they don't meet Federal standards and need to be antiques to bypass safety and technical requirements.
Upvote
10
(10
/
0)
Which virtue is it signalling? I though it was all about appealing to the scifi/Armageddon crowd and Elon's ego?
Upvote
0
(2
/
-2)
The thing I like about the Maverick is that it gives me just enough truck to handle the things that I (as a 36m single dad homeowner who likes DIY) would need a truck for, while maintaining all the things I like about the small SUVs (i.e. Escape, Rav4, CRV, Tuscon, etc) I've been driving for the past 12 years.
If it can get me to work and back (uphill, in the snow) cheaper than my current ride, and it has enough room for 2 adults/2 kids/bunch of stuff, that covers about 95% of my usage. If it can haul bulk brush/leaves and 4x8 sheet goods, that gets another 4%. If it can tow, that's the last <1%, and I have everything I want in a vehicle.
The AWD Hybrid Maverick covers all those use cases. An AWD PHEV* or BEV variant would do the same, while also significantly reducing my transportation costs week to week, and being vastly better for the environment.
*PHEV is only useful if there is enough battery to cover a typical daily commute. For me, that's 45mi one way, so I'd need a minimum 100mi battery range, or the increased cost of PHEV over a parallel hybrid outweighs the potential savings on gas.
If it can get me to work and back (uphill, in the snow) cheaper than my current ride, and it has enough room for 2 adults/2 kids/bunch of stuff, that covers about 95% of my usage. If it can haul bulk brush/leaves and 4x8 sheet goods, that gets another 4%. If it can tow, that's the last <1%, and I have everything I want in a vehicle.
The AWD Hybrid Maverick covers all those use cases. An AWD PHEV* or BEV variant would do the same, while also significantly reducing my transportation costs week to week, and being vastly better for the environment.
*PHEV is only useful if there is enough battery to cover a typical daily commute. For me, that's 45mi one way, so I'd need a minimum 100mi battery range, or the increased cost of PHEV over a parallel hybrid outweighs the potential savings on gas.
Upvote
3
(3
/
0)
Anybody remember the little Datsun and Toyota pickups in the '70s/80s/90s? A large part of the small business and trade world ran on them. I think this a pretty close modern equivalent considering how much has changed between then and now.
Upvote
7
(7
/
0)
We had a Datsun back when I was a kid. Early 80's maybe? Little black truck.
Towed a small boat with it. Didn't have it long as my parent's upgraded to an F150 when they got a bed camper.
Upvote
2
(3
/
-1)
I can guarantee the grill changes are done to make it look more like an F150. I was thinking about getting one of these (I live in a city, I'm a DIYer with very limited towing needs, but hauling plywood and furniture in the bed would be nice).
My "best man" from my wedding asked why I wanted to buy a "pussy truck." Told him the fuck off. He's underwater on his Silverado lmao.
Upvote
6
(7
/
-1)
Not sure why you would need a tactile feedback for the end of the range. It is not like it will go out of drive if you keep spinning or out of park if you keep spinning it. When I go to park I just spin it quickly counter clockwise and into drive just crank it clockwise. I don't really think about how far I spin it because it doesn't matter. Sure when you go drive to reverse you need to make sure you don't overshoot by going slowly but that is also a concern with many regular shifters.
Upvote
1
(2
/
-1)
Upvote
-15
(0
/
-15)
I was speaking to the magnitude of the change not that there is any change at all, but thanks for the snarky comment.
Upvote
-6
(0
/
-6)
They've sold as many as they made so far.
I want that hybrid AWD. Badly. So badly. I may have to discuss this with my wife
Upvote
4
(4
/
0)
Cumulative inflation alone over the past decade is ~36%. "Mid 30s" in 2014 is about $50k today. Nevermind that you're getting something a fair bit nicer today than trucks in the 2010s. ~$35k in 2024 dollars is ~$25k in 2014 dollars.
Upvote
10
(10
/
0)
Seeing as it took my uncle a year on a waiting list to get one, I think it was pretty popular. This is the truck non-truck people buy because of its utility. It's a good setup for empty nesters doing projects, heck, I'd consider it as a daily driver/utility myself, with good gas mileage and the ability to haul around things I otherwise couldn't (with my sport sedan for everything else).
Upvote
3
(3
/
0)
Upvote
3
(3
/
0)
The Volt, Maverick, Prius, etc, etc are power split hybrid.Part of the power is transferred mechanically, part electrically.
Honda mas moved from a pure parallel hybrid to a series/parallel hybrid: at low speeds it's a pure serial, at higher speeds it's a pure parallel with one or two gear ratios.
Nissan does have some pure series hybrids (e-Power). I think none are for sale in the USA.
Fuel efficiency isn't great.
Upvote
1
(1
/
0)
It took me 14 months to get my Maverick Tremor that I ordered from Ford - wait times are nuts. But while it merely gets 28MPG on average compared to the hybrid, that's a good 10MPG better than any other comparably off-road capable vehicle (and yes, I actually use that - I didn't take the hit for the fuel economy and a $6k jump in price just for a sticker on the truck bed). It also both handles amazingly well on the back country trails and snow of southern Utah, while feeling like a car on asphalt in the best possible way (my tacoma was damn uncomfortable by comparison), is so much more pleasant in urban driving, and through very smart design has a surprisingly usable truck bed. For the things I wanted to optimize for, it may be the nearly perfect vehicle
for anyone thinking of a maverick - it's a really solid set of optimizations, and no other vehicle right now is really comparable in its niche. My biggest complaint was that offering wireless cell charging but requiring wired carplay was dumb as hell, but looks like they fixed that
for anyone thinking of a maverick - it's a really solid set of optimizations, and no other vehicle right now is really comparable in its niche. My biggest complaint was that offering wireless cell charging but requiring wired carplay was dumb as hell, but looks like they fixed that
Upvote
8
(8
/
0)
Yup, my dad drove a Datsun when I was a kid, and has a Maverick now, I totally see the continuation.
Upvote
4
(4
/
0)
What needs to happen is for the government to repeal the import duties on small trucks so we can get the two door small trucks the rest of the world loves.
My 2003 Honda Element with the back seats out has more cargo space than a Maverick so if it ever dies, I'll probably go with a small cargo van. I don't need the back seats of the Maverick.
I thought VW Buzz might do the trick but you can't remove the seats and I want something I can haul bags of dirt, rock, firewood, plants, furniture, etc.
My 2003 Honda Element with the back seats out has more cargo space than a Maverick so if it ever dies, I'll probably go with a small cargo van. I don't need the back seats of the Maverick.
I thought VW Buzz might do the trick but you can't remove the seats and I want something I can haul bags of dirt, rock, firewood, plants, furniture, etc.
Upvote
-2
(1
/
-3)
My shifter requires pressing a "release" button going from N=>R or R=>P ?
Upvote
0
(0
/
0)
If my Toyota RAV4 can be a plug-in hybrid AWD, then Ford can do similar with a small pick up truck.
Upvote
3
(3
/
0)
The “new” ranger is a mid-size truck. The old ranger was a compact truck same as the maverick. So that is why they are closer in size. The entire mid-size category is really traced back to the dodge dakota and the 2005 Tacoma blowing up in size from a compact to a mid-size. The original ford ranger was classified as a compact truck.
Upvote
2
(2
/
0)
Big cabbed trucks are the way to go for those that favor child and pet safety too.
Upvote
-1
(2
/
-3)
Upvote
-4
(1
/
-5)
That’s what made the debut of the Maverick so special a few years ago. The small Ranger ended in 2012 with a starting MSRP of below $20k. The Maverick came in where the old Ranger left off. The old Ranger was plenty of truck for a decent amount of people and businesses but Ford (and practically every manufacturer) left the space to pursue big trucks and SUVs sadly. This wasn’t all Ford’s fault, small truck sales did dwindle compared to larger vehicles. The new Ranger was much bigger and pricier than the last one and sales weren’t quite up to expectations. While Maverick sales increased year over year, Ranger sales fell (some of that due to supply chain issues.) So demand is there for a sensible day to day truck.
The price creep after only a few years is sad to see (roughly 30% increase for the base model in only 3-4 years.) Mostly because I’d love to see affordable options for folks to get into highly fuel efficient vehicles especially since it is replacing vehicles with half the mpg it has.
My musings about general vehicles prices over 10 years wasn’t really my main point. I appreciate you bringing the topic back to a constructive discussion.
Upvote
6
(7
/
-1)
Can we not start this utterly dumb "I alone can decide who can have a truck" conversation again?
Upvote
28
(28
/
0)
Here we go with the assholes telling everyone what a REAL TRUCK is. If it's less than a one-ton and you're not pulling a 50,000 pound trailer 1000 miles a day, you don't have a REAL TRUCK. And also if you do have a REAL TRUCK but it's not actually doing REAL TRUCK THINGS right this second, you're a poser.
Pound sand.
Upvote
19
(20
/
-1)
I've driven compact and subcompact cars my entire life, and the Ford Maverick is the first truck that I'd give a second glance at buying. Cheapest hybrid, period. Even cheaper than many pure ICE compact sedans.
Upvote
4
(4
/
0)
Everything got bigger, not only trucks. For crash protection, mostly, and because engines are so much more efficient now. If you look at those pictures above, the Mav is so much thicker because of crash zones and airbags.
Full sized truck customers are stuck with the mindset that anything around 20mpg is functionally the same, when in reality MPG is a logarithmic scale. A lot of damage has been done to the environment because of this simple mistaken assumption. So instead of reaping the full benefit of better engines, features and performance galloped while efficiency crawled. The Tacoma is still compact on the inside, or it was.
The hybrid Maverick is great, but I would also mention that the ecoboost Maverick is the second most efficient truck, and the turbo is still great fun. It's a great engine.
Upvote
1
(1
/
0)
QuarterSwede
Ars Praetorian
They’re everywhere here on construction sites and DOT projects. We have one in our fleet and it’s easily the best vehicle for most of our managers needs. AC kicks on instantly (electric) and its hybrid gives us 42.9mpg on average. It has no business being as good as it is honestly. Love the updates to it. Only real issue is towing power which is nuts because the torque on this thing is up there. Maybe it’s the CVT?
Upvote
4
(4
/
0)
Ford really need to be bringing the Maverick to Australia. They'd sell like mad. I'd love an AWD plugin hybrid replacement for my 20 year old Courier.
Of course it'd probably cost them a tonne of Ranger sales, which is like literally our best selling vehicle still I think? Presumably Ford would rather sell AU$80K utes than AU$40K ones.
Of course it'd probably cost them a tonne of Ranger sales, which is like literally our best selling vehicle still I think? Presumably Ford would rather sell AU$80K utes than AU$40K ones.
Upvote
2
(2
/
0)
The Maverick is one of the most revolutionary US-market autos in recent years because it proves that we don't all need massive tank-sized pickups roaming the streets. As a non-truck guy I could see myself buying one if my lifestyle were just a little bit different.
Upvote
8
(8
/
0)
I own a 2022 Maverick Hybrid (FWD). I love the truck. I can go pick up compost, chicken feed, do a Costco run, and with a bed extender, take 2x14 lumber home from our local building center.
Our Maverick has had many many recalls. When purchasing, I was hoping that, as the powertrain was not new - it's the Ford Explorer powertrain - and the body was shared with the Bronco Sport, it might also be more reliable. Still, we've had no issues. But as a first model-year, I bought the extended warranty.
Interestingly, I first learned of the Maverick on Ars. I didn't want a huge gas guzzling pickup. I live in the land where the Ford F-150 is the most popular vehicle (not truck) sold. We ordered it and waited 11 months to get it.
The AWD sounds like an awesome option, but we might wait a few years to see how it works out. Not sure what AWD buys us - when it snows here, even AWD with winter tires have issues. We just park and wait it out.
Our Maverick has had many many recalls. When purchasing, I was hoping that, as the powertrain was not new - it's the Ford Explorer powertrain - and the body was shared with the Bronco Sport, it might also be more reliable. Still, we've had no issues. But as a first model-year, I bought the extended warranty.
Interestingly, I first learned of the Maverick on Ars. I didn't want a huge gas guzzling pickup. I live in the land where the Ford F-150 is the most popular vehicle (not truck) sold. We ordered it and waited 11 months to get it.
The AWD sounds like an awesome option, but we might wait a few years to see how it works out. Not sure what AWD buys us - when it snows here, even AWD with winter tires have issues. We just park and wait it out.
Upvote
4
(4
/
0)
That is a normal size bed. They're never coming out with a six foot bed and you don't actually need one, so pipe down.
Upvote
0
(3
/
-3)
Is your family a one vehicle family? It is pretty common for families to have more than one vehicle and in that situation one can be the designated people mover and the other can be more specialized.
Upvote
1
(2
/
-1)
I think what manufacturers found out was that it's not the typically daily commute as much as people consider how many miles they put on during one of their busier typical days. Factoring in side trips for picking up/dropping off kids, stopping for shopping/the gym/other errands, followed by dinner or post dinner plans could easily exceed a 40 mile capacity at least one day per week.
On such days, they probably don't have time to futz with chargers and just think about how annoyed they are when they have to also keep filling up on gas (despite paying a premium to avoid the hassle/expense of typical gas cars). It's taken a while, but manufacturers seem to be figuring out their customers want a more robust range for the plug-in portion of their PHEVs.
Upvote
0
(3
/
-3)